Tarek Lakhrissi, young talent from the 2024 mentorship program

"The forms of Tarek Lakhrissi are volatile, and when they appear, it is always to better withdraw. It must be clarified from the outset that there is no preciousness in the infrathin, nor politeness in effacement: to do so would still concede full powers to the center and permanence to the norm. On the contrary, when, for his first solo exhibition, the artist carpets the floor with sand ('Caméléon Club,' 2019), suspends his spears and stakes at face level ('Unfinished Sentence II,' 2020), or pierces the space with severed salamander tails ('This Doesn’t Belong to Me,' 2020), it is indeed about disidentification. These three recent sculptural installations by the artist, respectively presented during a solo show at La Galerie, CAC de Noisy-le-Sec, and in group exhibitions at Palais de Tokyo in Paris and CAC Brétigny, as well as at Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin, distill as many strategies that, alongside resilience, combine cunning. Born in 1992 in Châtellerault, having pursued a master's degree in theater studies in Paris and Montreal before working for a time at the Parisian queer bookstore Les Mots à la Bouche, Tarek Lakhrissi is now based in Brussels. His journey, akin to the spirit that permeates each of his pieces, is constructed through interconnections and concentric circles: across mediums including film, video, performance, and installation; and within scenes, surrounded by allied presences past and present, real and fictional."

"Tale of facts. He grew up in the suburbs of Poitiers and never imagined becoming one of the most prominent contemporary artists of his generation. Today, he is continuously exhibiting, teaching art practices in Geneva, and is shortlisted for the prestigious Pernod-Ricard Prize. His work, which spans video, text, and sculpture, addresses themes of marginality, social violence, and identity determinism.

Mirror of thought. In 2020, for his installation 'Unfinished Sentence II,' he suspended both threatening and fragile spears at eye level of visitors at Palais de Tokyo.

The taste for words. Before becoming an artist, he worked as a bookseller for six years in Paris. Jean Genet remains one of his favorite authors. 'The Thief's Journal' particularly inspired his metal sculpture 'Perfume of Traitors,' exhibited in August at a London gallery."

"Originally trained in literature, Franco-Algerian artist Tarek Lakhrissi identifies as both an artist and a poet, with his work deeply rooted in the power of language. Each project stems from canonical writing, where Lakhrissi reinvents text as a weapon against political or social marginalization, particularly within the queer community. This concept of language as defense leads to reflections on contemporary queer identities and self-defense as self-love.

Mostyn Gallery's new commission draws inspiration from both the 2000s American band Evanescence's song 'My Immortal' and John Milton's classic 1667 poem 'Paradise Lost,' questioning the meaning of community—once again, with a particular focus on the queer dimension—and its stability or vulnerability. (He also regularly references 90s pop culture, citing subversive icons like TV heroines from 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and 'Xena: Warrior Princess,' both of whom excelled in protecting themselves against adversity throughout his work."